


Beneath the Gloves

by NamelessMoogle



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Developing Friendships, Drabble, Friendship, Gen, Magical Accidents, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 01:47:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20649188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NamelessMoogle/pseuds/NamelessMoogle
Summary: “Ignis, I’ve been meaning to ask you…”“Out with it.”“Why do you always wear gloves?”





	Beneath the Gloves

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in 2017, as an (extremely feeble) attempt at a Halloween drabble. I am working on something different for Halloween this year, but since it's too early to post it, I've decided to dig this one out of the grave.
> 
> _Beneath the Gloves_ can be considered a companion piece to [_Unexpected & Hesitant_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15525816/chapters/36040311).

“So, Noct,” Prompto reached for a glass of water as he talked to his best friend. “Ignis always wears gloves, right? Why’s that?”

“I don’t know,” answered the prince, shaking his head. “And I don’t care.”

“Brat.”

The two boys laughed and resumed playing _King’s Knight_ together. Nevertheless, curiosity had already filled Prompto’s young brain and the blonde couldn’t stop thinking about the gloved hands of the tactician. The teenager ended up spending the entire evening wondering how he would find the answer.

A few days later, Gladiolus suggested that the four of them -- Prince, Sword, Shield, and Gun -- have a change of scenery and go camping. Noctis wasn’t thrilled, but Prompto accepted immediately and so did Ignis after making phone calls and sending out e-mails. Noctis agreed to join them, not wanting to have Cor watching him every second throughout the weekend.

Ignis drove the car on the way to the campsite, with Noctis and Gladio sitting in the back and Prompto next to the driver. The photographer struggled not to stare at Ignis’ hands, lest the Advisor be suspicious of his motives. _Why_, Prompto wondered, _am I so curious about Iggy’s hands?_ Regardless of the reason, Prompto knew he couldn’t stop himself from wanting to see what was beneath the gloves. He hoped to find out soon.

Ignis took out his cooking utensils as soon as the quartet arrived at the campsite. 

“Prompto, could you help me to prepare these vegetables?”

“Uh, sure. But… Why me?”

“You know why I can’t ask Noct,” said the strategist, smirking. “And Gladio will eat them raw. As healthy an eating habit as it might be, he will leave me without enough ingredients to work with.”

“Makes sense.”

Prompto put the vegetables in a basket and walked to a nearby stream to wash them. When he returned, he saw Ignis sorting out the spices, but couldn’t find the prince and his Shield anywhere. 

“Where’s Noct and Gladio?”

“Out for a hike.”

“Better this way than bugging you, I guess?”

“Precisely.”

The younger man nodded and stood in front of a cutting board, putting down the veggie basket next to it.

“Ignis, I’ve been meaning to ask you…”

“Out with it.”

“Why do you always wear gloves?”

Ignis’ face darkened upon the question.

“Why would you want to know that, Prompto?”

“I’ve been… curious.”

“His Highness has not.”

“I know, but…”

“It shouldn’t matter to you.”

“But I care, Ignis,” Prompto admitted. “I do.”

Bewildered, Ignis sighed and gazed at the boy standing before him. Prompto could see the green eyes narrowing in contemplation. The tension on Ignis’ face lifted some time later as the taller man responded.

“Promise me, Prompto, that you will speak to _no one_ of this.”

“I promise.”

Ignis slowly removed the gloves and showed his bare hands to Prompto, who gasped at what he saw. It was not ordinary, flesh-and-blood hands that the blonde was looking at: underneath the gloves were hand-shaped figures covered with bark, complete with tree branches in place of fingers.

“H-how…”

The Advisor put his gloves back on before he tried to answer Prompto’s unfinished question.

“An accident.”

“When? How?”

“Since you are training to join the Crownsguard,” Ignis hesitated for a moment but continued, “you have probably heard of a nasty daemon which had managed to get past the Wall a while ago.”

“Yeah, and the Crownsguard were deployed and got rid of it.”

Then Prompto realised that there was more to the incident than what he had heard. He waited Ignis to elaborate further.

“At first, we thought that a Malboro got lucky and snuck inside. But it was no ordinary Malboro.”

“What was it, then?”

“The biologists and zoologists are analysing the samples we sent them.”

“But that creature did something, didn’t it?”

“Indeed it did, including _this_,” said Ignis as he glanced at his own hands.

“You won’t tell me what else it did.”

“I will do no such thing.”

“Understandable.”

Prompto looked up and into Ignis’ eyes, surprised at the lack of sadness behind the spectacles.

“Ignis, aren’t you worried that your hands might stay this way fore… for a long time?”

“This is no time to worry. I am thankful that I’ve had little trouble with anything as long as I remember to wear my gloves.”

“But, your hands…”

“Prompto,” Ignis interrupted the teen as he spoke. “I appreciate your concern, but I’m fine. I can do all my work without a problem. Also, I have doctors who make sure that my hands function properly.”

The gunner was relieved to hear that Ignis was looking after himself, even though the strategist still placed his duties above his own well-being.

“My lips are sealed.”

“Good,” Ignis said with a smile. “Now shall we get the dinner ready before His Highness and his Shield come back?”

**Author's Note:**

> [Scream at me about my little fics](https://twitter.com/namelessmoogle1).


End file.
